Trump Credits 'Somebody Very Special' For Saving Him During Failed Assassination Attempt
The shooting occurred on July 13, 2024, during a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bullet grazed Trump's ear and one attendee, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, was killed.
Trump said on 'The Will Cain Show' that his ear occasionally hurts.
'I've got this massive crowd of people, and all of a sudden you hear and you feel something that's very unusual,' he recalled. 'I got down quickly. People were screaming, 'Get down, get down.' The whole thing was just crazy.'
'And it's hard to believe a year is up,' Trump continued. 'And here we are. A lot of things have happened since then, including the presidency. So I have an obligation to do a good job, I feel, because I was really saved by somebody very special.'
It was at that moment that the president pointed to the sky to credit God.
Trump went on to suggest that he was spared 'to save our country,' and has argued as much before: He said in September that he would 'like to think' God protected him to 'straighten out our country' — which he called 'sick' and 'broken' at the time.
'I'm not so much of a shooter, but people that were shooters say it's almost impossible that that was a miss,' Trump said Friday. 'I mean, it was a hit, but it was a miss. Well, I do get that throbbing feeling every once in a while, you understand.'
Trump on Butler: People say that was almost impossible it was a miss. It was a hit but it was a miss. I do get that throbbing feeling like every once in a while pic.twitter.com/n8xLUdyS68
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 11, 2025
The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed at the scene by law enforcement after opening fire from an unsecured rooftop, grazing Trump, killing Comperatore and injuring rallygoers David Dutch and James Copenhaver.
The president has long presented himself as a man of faith, which critics find hard to believe. His own niece, Mary Trump, recently accused her uncle of invoking God as nothing more than a dishonest political ploy to keep his evangelical supporters happy.
The president appeared to joke about the shooting in August. In a recording from a private fundraiser obtained by The Guardian, he recalled paying Comperatore's widow 'millions' for her loss, only to comment on her supposedly surprising reaction.
'I handed her the check — we handed her the check — and she said, 'This is so nice, and I appreciate it, but I'd much rather have my husband,'' Trump said at the time. 'Now, I know some of the women in this room wouldn't say the same. I know at least four couples.'
He continued, 'At least four couples would have been thrilled, actually.'
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